JP3072822B2 - Terminal insertion confirmation device and terminal insertion confirmation method - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a terminal insertion confirming device and a terminal insertion confirming method capable of detecting a terminal insertion failure with time in a process of automatically inserting a terminal-attached electric wire into a connector housing.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 8 shows a conventional terminal insertion confirming device described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Sho 60-130078.
The device 47 includes an electric wire gripper main body 49 having a pair of electric wire gripping hands 48, a terminal gripper main body 51 having a pair of terminal gripping hands 50 and capable of moving up and down along the gripper main body 49, An elevating cylinder 52 for lifting and lowering the gripper body 51, and an inner frame 53 fixed to the wire gripper body 49
An outer frame 55 movable in the front-rear direction (terminal insertion / removal direction) via the coil spring 54 on the inner frame 53;
And a sensor 56 fixed to the outer frame 55 so as to face.

The entire device (insertion head) 47 can be moved back and forth, right and left, and up and down by a driving mechanism (not shown).
The electric wire with terminal 2 is received by the electric wire gripping hand 48 and the terminal gripping hand 50 from a clamp rod (not shown), and the terminal 4
The terminal gripping hand 50 is lifted as shown in the figure with the tip of the terminal advancing into the opening 24a of the connector housing 24, and the electric wire with terminal 2 is inserted into the connector housing 24 by the electric wire gripping hand 48 alone.

After the terminal is inserted, the outer frame 55 is moved in the direction opposite to the terminal insertion as shown by the arrow A, and
The inner frame 53 integral with 8 is urged in the same direction by the compressive force of the coil spring 54, and a certain tensile force is applied to the terminal 4 to confirm insertion. Here, when the terminal 4 is not fully inserted (when the locking lance 25 of the connector housing 24 is not engaged with the terminal 4), the terminal 4 is pulled out rearward, and half-insertion of the terminal is detected. . When the terminal 4 is completely inserted, the sensor 56 comes into contact with the inner frame 53, and it is determined that there is no abnormality.

However, in the above-described conventional structure, it is only possible to detect whether or not the terminal 4 is completely inserted, and it is not possible to detect a problem that the terminal 4 interferes with the connector housing 24 during the insertion process. Was.
In addition, the addition of a step of pulling the terminal-equipped wire 2 backward increases the insertion tact time.
When the set spring force is high, there is a concern that the locking lance 25 and the connection between the electric wire 3 and the terminal 4 are adversely affected. Further, when the terminal 4 is pulled backward after the insertion is confirmed, there is a problem that it takes time to insert the terminal 4 again.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of the above, the present invention can detect interference with the connector housing during the terminal insertion process, can reduce the time required to detect incomplete insertion, and can lock the terminal. An object of the present invention is to provide a terminal insertion confirmation device and a terminal insertion confirmation method which can completely insert a terminal in a short time after detecting incomplete insertion without adversely affecting a connection portion between a lance and an electric wire and a terminal. And

[0007]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention provides an electric wire gripper having an electric wire gripping hand,
In a terminal insertion device including a terminal gripper having a terminal gripping hand and capable of moving up and down, the wire gripper and the terminal gripper rotatably provided, the wire gripper and the terminal gripper, The terminal insertion confirmation device is basically provided with a connecting rod fixed to any one of them and having a distal end in contact with one of the other, and a pressure sensor abutting on the opposite side to the terminal insertion of the wire gripping tool.

A terminal insertion confirming device comprising a rear spring member for urging the electric wire gripper in a direction opposite to terminal insertion, and a front spring member for urging the terminal gripper in a direction opposite to terminal insertion; It is also effective to use a terminal insertion confirmation device in which the lifting cylinder is connected to the electric wire gripper and the terminal gripper via pins.

Further, the terminal-equipped wire is gripped by the terminal gripper and the wire gripper, and the tip of the terminal of the terminal-equipped wire is inserted into the connector housing, and the terminal gripper is retracted. in the terminal insertion method for inserting the secondary of the terminal-equipped wire in the connector housing, is brought into contact with the pressure sensor to the wire gripper, during a secondary insertion completion of the terminal-equipped wire, said terminal and said by pressure sensor A terminal insertion confirming method for judging the completion of the secondary insertion by detecting the residual pressure of the electric wire between the electric wire gripper and the electric wire gripper is also adopted.

The terminal gripper and the electric wire gripper are connected by a connecting rod, and an interference load between the terminal and the connector housing at the time of primary insertion is transferred from the terminal gripper to the pressure sensor via the connecting rod. The terminal insertion confirmation method of detecting an abnormality during the terminal insertion by transmitting the interference load between the terminal and the connector housing at the time of secondary insertion to the pressure sensor from the wire gripper is also effective.

[0011]

If there is interference between the terminal and the connector during the primary insertion of the terminal into the connector housing, the interference load is transmitted from the terminal holding tool to the electric wire holding tool via the connecting rod and detected by the pressure sensor. . In addition, if there is interference during secondary insertion in which the terminal is inserted only with the wire gripper, the interference load is transmitted from the wire gripper to the pressure sensor, and an abnormality is detected. Furthermore, when the secondary insertion is completed, the residual pressure of the wire is transmitted from the wire gripper to the pressure sensor,
It is detected whether the terminal has been completely inserted.

The wire gripper and the terminal gripper rotate to transmit a load to the pressure sensor, and each spring member biases each gripper toward the pressure sensor in an initial state to apply a preload to the pressure sensor. Each gripper rotates about a pin for fixing the lifting cylinder. At the time of secondary insertion, the terminal holder is prevented from rising independently by the elevating cylinder, and the contact of the distal end of the connecting rod is cut off. As a result, a load is not applied to the connecting rod at the time of secondary insertion, and only the wire gripper biases the pressure sensor.

[0013]

1 to 6 show an embodiment of a terminal insertion confirming device according to the present invention in the order of operation, and FIG. 7 is a flowchart thereof. As shown in FIG. 1, the terminal insertion confirmation device 1 includes an electric wire gripping hand 5 for gripping the electric wire 3 of the electric wire with terminal 2.
And a wire gripper body (chuck cylinder) 6
A wire gripper 8 pivotally supported in the front-rear direction (terminal insertion / removal direction) by pivotally supporting the upper end of the wire with a pin 7, and a wire gripper 8 disposed in parallel in front of the wire gripper 8, It has a terminal gripping hand 9 for gripping the terminal 4 and a terminal gripper 12 that is rotatable in the front-rear direction by pivotally supporting the upper end of a terminal gripper body (chuck cylinder) 10 with a pin 11.

The ends of rods 15, 16 of vertically mounted lifting cylinders 13, 14 are fixed to the pins 7, 11, respectively. The wire gripper 8 and the terminal gripper 12 are independent of each other by the lifting cylinders 13, 14. It can be moved up and down. Each of the lifting cylinders 13 and 14 is fixed to an apparatus body (not shown).

A connecting rod 17 protrudes from the lower end of the front wall 6a of the electric wire gripper body 6, and a roller 18 is rotatably supported at the distal end of the connecting rod 17; The roller 18 is in contact with the rear wall 10b of the terminal gripper body 10. Further, a front spring member 20 is provided in a slightly compressed state between a front wall 10a of the terminal gripper body 10 and a fixed wall 19 of the apparatus main body, and a front wall 6a of the wire gripper body 6 is provided.
A rear spring member 22 is provided in a slightly compressed state between the front wall 21a of the fixed frame 21 having the inverted concave shape of the apparatus main body.

A pressure sensor 23 is fixedly mounted on the rear wall 21b of the inverted concave fixing frame 21 behind the wire gripper body 6, and a detection boss 23a of the pressure sensor 23 is attached to the wire gripper body 6. Is in contact with the rear wall 6b. The detection boss 23
“a” is located concentrically with the connecting rod 17. In the initial state, the total load of the front spring member 20 and the rear spring member 22 is applied to the pressure sensor 23. These spring members 20 and 22 act to always bring both gripper bodies 6 and 10 into contact with the pressure sensor 23 integrally.

The entire device (insertion head) 1 can be moved in the front-rear direction by a drive mechanism (not shown). The connecting rod 17 may be provided on the rear wall 10b of the terminal gripper main body 10 instead of the electric wire gripper main body 6. In this case, the roller 18 contacts the front wall 6a of the electric wire gripper main body 6, and will be described later. 3, the roller 18 may have a structure in which the roller 18 is separated from the wire gripper body 6 when the terminal gripper body 10 is raised. The state shown in FIG. 1 corresponds to the position (31) before the primary insertion in the flowchart shown in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 2, the entire device 1 is moved forward from the state shown in FIG. 1 by a drive mechanism (not shown), and the distal end of the terminal 4 of the electric wire with terminal 2 is advanced into the connector housing 24. If the tip 4a of the terminal 4 collides with the front end 24a of the connector housing 24, the collision load is transferred from the terminal gripping hand 9 via the terminal gripper body 10, the roller 18, and the connecting rod 17 to the wire gripper. It is transmitted from the main body 6 to the pressure sensor 23 and detected as abnormal. Pressure sensor 2
Reference numeral 3 is connected to a control device (not shown).
To stop. These operations correspond to the primary insertion start (32) of the flowchart, the presence of an abnormal load (33), and the primary insertion abnormality processing (34).

In FIG. 2, when the primary insertion is performed smoothly and the pressure sensor 23 does not detect any abnormality, the terminal gripping hand 9 opens the terminal as shown in FIG. The tool body 10 is raised. As a result, the terminal gripper main body 10 is connected to the rollers 18 of the connecting rod 17.
Away from the pressure sensor 23, in the free state, the urging force of only the rear spring member 22 on the wire gripper main body 6 side acts on the pressure sensor 23. In this state, secondary insertion is started. These operations correspond to the primary insertion end position (35) of the flowchart, the terminal hand retreat (36), and the secondary insertion start (37). The raised terminal gripper body 10 abuts against a stopper (not shown), and is prevented from rotating toward the electric wire gripper body 6.

Then, as shown in FIG. 4, the device (insertion head) 1
The whole is advanced, and the secondary insertion of the terminal 4 is performed only by the wire gripping hand 5. During the secondary insertion, for example, when the terminal 4 bites the locking lance 25 in the connector housing 24 and a pressure equal to or higher than the normal pressure value when the terminal 4 is inserted into the connector housing 24 is detected. , Abnormal pressure is transmitted from the terminal 4 to the pressure sensor 23 via the electric wire 3, the electric wire gripping hand 5, and the electric wire gripping tool main body 6, and measures such as stopping the device are taken. These operations correspond to the abnormal load existence (38) to the secondary insertion abnormality processing (39) in the flowchart.

If the load applied to the pressure sensor 23 during the secondary insertion is within the range of a normal pressure value in a storage device (not shown), the terminal 4 is connected to the connector housing 24 as shown in FIG.
And the secondary insertion is completed. In this state, the wire 3 between the wire gripping hand 5 and the terminal 4 is bent and bent by the pushing of the wire gripping hand 5, and has a repulsive force (residual pressure) for pushing the wire gripping hand 5 backward.

By transmitting this residual pressure from the electric wire gripping hand 5 to the pressure sensor 23 via the electric wire gripping tool main body 6, it is determined whether the secondary insertion of the terminal is completed. That is, if the residual pressure is within the range of a predetermined value in the storage device, it is determined that the secondary insertion is completed, and if the residual pressure is equal to or less than the predetermined value, it is determined that the insertion is incomplete (half-insertion). If the insertion is incomplete, the signal from the control device causes the entire device (insertion head) 1 to advance and move the terminal 4 to the normal insertion region. Thereby, the terminal half-insertion is corrected to the complete insertion. These operations correspond to the secondary insertion end position (40) to the residual pressure check (4) in the flowchart.
1) to a half-fitting process (42). By this detection step, half-insertion is detected without pulling the terminal-equipped electric wire 2 as in the related art.

When it is determined that the residual pressure is normal, the electric wire gripping hand 5 releases the electric wire 3 as shown in FIG.
By the compression operation of 3, the wire is pulled up together with the wire gripper main body 6, and the insertion cycle is completed. This operation corresponds to the wire hand retreat (43) to the insertion completion (44) in the flowchart.

[0024]

As described above, according to the present invention, at the time of the primary insertion of the terminal, the terminal gripper and the wire gripper are connected via the connecting rod and transmit the load to the pressure sensor. Since the terminal collision can be detected, and at the time of secondary insertion, the terminal gripper moves away from the connecting rod and only the wire gripper transmits the load to the pressure sensor,
For example, it is possible to detect an abnormality until the terminal is completely inserted, such as an incomplete fitting between the locking lance in the connector housing and the terminal. Further, when the secondary insertion is completed, the residual pressure of the electric wire (repulsive force of the curved electric wire) is transmitted to the pressure sensor, and it is possible to detect whether the terminal is completely inserted or not.

This eliminates the need for a step of detecting the incomplete insertion of the terminal by pulling the electric wire with the terminal as in the prior art, thereby increasing the tact time of insertion and the locking lance in the connector housing and the connection between the electric wire and the terminal. Concerns about adverse effects on the connection portion and the like are avoided. In addition, when incomplete insertion (semi-insertion) of the terminal is detected, if the insertion stroke is extended, the terminal is completely inserted, so that it takes no time and is efficient.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view in an initial state showing one embodiment of a terminal insertion confirmation device and a terminal insertion confirmation method according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view showing a state when the terminal is firstly inserted.

FIG. 3 is a side view of a state in which the terminal holding member is prevented from rising and secondary insertion of the terminal is started by the electric wire holding member.

FIG. 4 is a side view showing a state at the time of secondary insertion of a terminal.

FIG. 5 is a side view showing a state where secondary insertion is completed.

FIG. 6 is a side view of a state in which complete insertion of a terminal has been detected and the wire gripper has been lifted.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the insertion process.

FIG. 8 is a side view showing a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Terminal insertion confirmation device 2 Terminal wire 3 Wire 4 Terminal 5 Wire gripping hand 7 and 11 Pin 8 Wire gripping tool 9 Terminal gripping hand 12 Terminal gripping tool 13 and 14 Elevating cylinder 17 Connecting rod 20 Front spring member 22 Rear spring member 23 Pressure sensor 24 Connector housing

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on front page (58) Field surveyed (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) H01R 43/20

Claims (5)

(57) [Claims] An electric wire gripper having an electric wire gripping hand,
In a terminal insertion device including a terminal gripper having a terminal gripping hand and capable of moving up and down, the wire gripper and the terminal gripper rotatably provided, the wire gripper and the terminal gripper, A terminal insertion confirmation device, comprising: a connecting rod fixed to any one of the above, and a distal end thereof in contact with the other one; and a pressure sensor abutting on a side opposite to the terminal insertion side of the wire gripper. 2. The terminal insertion device according to claim 1, further comprising a rear spring member for urging the wire gripper in a direction opposite to the terminal insertion, and a front spring member for urging the terminal gripper in a direction opposite to the terminal insertion. Confirmation device. 3. A lifting and lowering cylinder is connected to each of the electric wire gripper and the terminal gripper via a pin.
2. The terminal insertion confirmation device according to 2. 4. An electric wire holding device comprising: a terminal holding device; and an electric wire holding device, wherein a terminal with the terminal is held by the terminal holding device and the terminal of the terminal of the electric wire with the terminal is first inserted into the connector housing, and the terminal holding device is retracted. in the terminal insertion method for inserting the secondary of the terminal-equipped wire in the connector housing, is brought into contact with the pressure sensor to the wire gripper, during a secondary insertion completion of the terminal-equipped wire,
A terminal insertion confirmation method, wherein the pressure sensor detects a residual pressure of an electric wire between the terminal and the electric wire gripper to determine whether secondary insertion is completed. 5. The pressure sensor, wherein the terminal gripper and the electric wire gripper are connected by a connecting rod, and an interference load between the terminal and the connector housing at the time of primary insertion is transmitted from the terminal gripper via the connecting rod. And transmitting an interference load between the terminal and the connector housing at the time of secondary insertion to the pressure sensor from the wire gripper to detect an abnormality during the terminal insertion. How to check terminal insertion.